Finding the Plan That Works For You

TigerPawsSC

I'm a writer by trade, and I write mostly because it helps me explore a subject for myself. I'm writing this in hopes of achieving that goal, and I think this posting might help someone out there with similar challenges to mine.

I am a 27-year old male, and I stand six-feet, one inch tall. I have played sports for most of my life, and my weight has fluctuated a lot over time. I played centerfield in high school at 200 pounds, and with my muscle structure, that's an acceptable weight. I've also ballooned up to 270 pounds on more than one occasion, including this one, which prompted my current lifestyle change.

I have tried a number of different diet approaches, and I have yo-yoed for much of my young life. I've been on a starvation diet, a Special K diet, a Raisin Bran diet, and a diet made up entirely of Healthy Choice French Bread Pizza. This time, though, I've done things differently. And because of that, my plan has been easier and much more fun.

What challenges do I have? First, I am a full-time law student, taking 18 hours of school with graduation pending in a couple of weeks. I also work a 5-day internship which has me at the office 25 hours per week. I run a freelance writing business in my spare time. I interview for jobs and send out resumes regularly. To say that I am busy would be an understatement.

In addition, I have come into this with no knowledge of cooking and a host of bad eating habits. I understand that this does not make me unique in these parts. Still, I used to eat three fast food meals per day, and I would routinely supersize everything. It is only through the grace of a decent metabolism that I haven't gained up into the 300s. In a way, I have been blessed to keep my weight at a place where it's been manageable.

I was 270 in January, and my goal weight is probably 190. It has been a long time since I weighed that amount, and I look good in clothes at 220, so 190 might be a bit low at this point in my life. As I get closer, I may re-evaluate. Thus far, over the course of around three months, I have lost 35 pounds with an aggressive combination of good eating, weight training, and cardio. Perhaps most importantly, I have done it my way. The only way to effectively get in shape is to get control of your own mind and come up with a plan that allows for that.

On Eating

First, let me say that at least for me, it was important to get my eating habits in line before I ever took to a serious workout plan. This was true because working out makes me hungry. Whether it is running or lifting, I feel the need to eat the entire store when I'm done. If you do not have good eating habits, then you can undo all of the good work by overeating after a workout. If you are anything like me, then you have never needed an excuse to eat poorly. And things are worse after a workout because you finally have a good excuse for eating - you have just burnt XXX calories, so why not eat? I found it helpful to develop good habits so that I didn't overeat after those workouts.

I used to eat 4000 or more calories per day. I ate mostly fast food, and I blamed it on my busy schedule. The truth is that I was too lazy to learn how to cook. Now I know that cooking is not hard, and if I can learn it, anyone can. Things really changed for me when I realized that healthy food tastes just as good as unhealthy food. Is a nicely cooked piece of fish any worse objectively than a Wendy's cheeseburger? The answer is that they taste different, but one is not better than the other. Once you understand that two foods are equal in taste, while one can make you fit and the other can make you fat, it is easy to make the right choice.

The broiler has become my friend. I bake and broil all sorts of fish - talapia when I'm feeling cheap, salmon sometimes and rainbow trout other times. I cook lean pork, filling it with feta cheese and spinach before broiling. I dry cook chicken in a pan, and I will eat the occasional steak. All of these things taste good, and I eat sweet potatoes, asparagus, and fruit with them. I have the occasional spinach salad, and I will add a protein bar here and there. These are good foods, and they are healthy. When I realized that I like them as much as I like a cheeseburger or pizza, those two choices stopped looking good to me. What I realized was that bad food was an emotional thing for me, as it reminded me of childhood. It reminded me of good times for some reason. The truth, though, is that bad foods create their share of bad memories, too. I had been a chubby kid at times, and I had heard all of the names. I started to associate bad foods with those negative experiences. And I associated good foods with the "new" me - a person who has learned to cook and make great decisions. It's a powerful mental tool.

I talk about cooking because it's clear that I do not have the amount of time that most people do. But I make the time. I look forward to spending ten minutes in the butcher's section of the grocery. And when I think it is too much time, I remember how much time I spent waiting in the Wendy's drive-thru. The unintentional consequence is that I have saved a lot of money cooking my own food, too. I can purchase three to four meals worth of meat at one time for around five bucks. Because I do not have the time or know-how to store my food properly, I only get enough food so that I can refrigerate it without it going bad. Then I make another trip.

I have cut out sodas and snacks. I do not eat fried foods. I do not eat candy. I have begun to view food as fuel, and I have begun to appreciate the effect of good food on my body.

Exercise

I can offer one piece of advice to people about exercise. That is, find something that you like to do. I love tennis, and I play four to five times per week. At my size and the way I play, I can burn upwards of 1,000 calories in 90 minutes of tennis. It involves interval training and sprinting. It works on my long-term fitness. And when I get done, I do not feel like I have worked out.

I also play golf, but I walk the course. It is like a 6-mile hike with a huge sack on your back. You will burn 1000+ calories at my size, and what have you done? You have just played a round of golf.

I also try to use my strengths. As someone who played football and baseball, I did a lot of weight training as a young person. I learned then to push through difficult lifts, and I learned to embrace cardio. Because I know that I have the power to push my body, I do that. I draw upon those experiences to push through great workouts. Not all people will have these experiences, but that does not mean that they cannot build them. This is why running is so important. Any time you can do something that proves to yourself that you have control of your mind, you can draw on that. If you can do it once, you can do it twice. This is how good habits are formed.

Motivation

I use various things to motivate myself. At certain parts of my life, on three different occasions, I have been told I look like a certain actor. This has always been at my lowest weights. When I first started my new lifestyle, I would watch a movie of that actor before I went to bed. I did not want to think about how bad I looked. I wanted to think about what I could be if I worked hard enough. This is unconventional, but it worked for me. There is a certain power in identity, and you have to look to what you could become. That is far better than beating yourself up about where you are now. Start to think of yourself as a healthy person and your habits will come around to match that mindset.

What I have learned is that you cannot focus on the destination. You must focus on the ride itself. Sure, I have a goal weight. But I enjoy waking up each morning knowing that I made great decisions the day before. I feel good about the progress I make each day, and I understand that the destination will pass one day while I am enjoying the ride.

I still have 30-40 pounds to go, but I am half way to my goal. If you think you are too busy to cook good food and lose weight, you are wrong. If you think you are too busy to work out, you are wrong. If you think you can't change your eating habits, you are wrong. It can be done, and it must be done. There's a beast inside of you, and it's just waiting on you to let it shine.